Flowmeter



April 13, 1948. R. B. ENGDAHL.

FLOW METER Filed Jan. 12, 1946 FIG. 3

Patented Apr. 13, 1948 FLOWMETER Richard B. Engdahl, columbus, ohio, assigner, by

mesne assignments, to Bitumnous CoalvResearch, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application January 12, 1946, Serial No. 640,904

(Cl. Z3-196) 2 claims.

This invention relates to methods of and apl paratus for measuring the ow of finely divided solid materials in a, gaseous medium and, as a particular application thereof, may be exemplified by the measurement of powdered coal being delivered by a blower.

It is a well-known phenomenon of physics that the rate of ow of a fluid may be determined by passing the fluid through an orifice of known dimensions. The problemV of developing means for measuring or metering the amount ofv powdered material suspended in a. gas, however, has been attacked from many angles, but to date no successful method or apparatus has been developed. A definite need for such meters exists, particularly in the powdered fuel and pulverized catalyst processes, wherein the amount of powdered solid material must be closely regulated. In the absence of metering devices, it is essential to make al1 line adjustments by hand, because the amount of powdered material delivered to a burner, in the case of powdered coal, or to a reaction chamber in the case of a powdered catalyst, cannot be ascertained when more than one delivery line is branched olf of the main supply. This necessity for manual adjustment prevents predeterminationV of operation and necessitates the constant vigilance of a workman to maintain the process under operating conditions. An object of this invention is to provide a method and apparatus for measuring the amount of nely divided solid material in a gaseous medium.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a meter illustrating the present invention,

Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a modification of the device shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a graph representing the variation between actual feed rate and the calculated feed rate of a given powdered material.

It has been discovered that the pressure drop effected by an elongated restriction, such as a nozzle, interposed in a line through which is passed a nely divided solid suspended in a gas (hereinafter referred to as a solid-gas mixture) is directly related to and furnishes an accurate indication of the total solid-gas mixture flow'-` 2 in the solid-gas mixture and comparing those data with those obtained by use of the nozzle, the amount od' solid flowing through a conduit may be determined.

In order to more clearly describe the present invention, reference is made to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings which discloses a particular application thereof. In Figure 1 the solid-gas mixture enters from the right, passes through the pipe I, and exits at the left as indicated by the arrows. A nozzle 2, shown in the form of a venturi, is positioned within the pipe as shown. A pressure tap 3 is positioned along the pipe I far enough ahead of the venturi 2 to obviate any pressure effects of the restriction. A second pressure tap Il is positioned toward the middle of the venturi 2 so that the differential between the upstream `pressure as measured at the pressure tap 3, and the diminished pressure,

'as measuredat the tap 4, may be registered on a manometer 8 schematically shown. It is not essential to this invention that a venturi be employed to measure the amount of solid-gas mixture flowing through pipe I, since any nozzle will provide the desired data. The length or" such nozzle has not been found to be particularly critical, and a nozzle having a length about equal to its diameter has been found to function satisfactorily. It is preferred, however, to employ a venturi or similarly shaped restriction because this construction permits the pressure drop to be regained. An orifice, indicated in general at 5, is employed in the customary manner to measure the rate of flow of gas through the pipe I by means of the pressure differential between the upstream pressure tap 6 and the low pressure tap l, which is indicated by the manometer 9. The present orifice 5, shown in Figure l, diiiers from that usually employed merely to measure the gas flow through a pipe in that a rubberlike layer II is disposed upon the surface of a backplate I0. An orice having this particular construction is described in the copending application by H. Maurice Carlson entitled Orifice plates, Serial, No. 640,933, i'lled January 12, 1946. As disclosed in the above referred to application, the rubber-like layer I I upon the surface of the plate I0 prolongs the life of the orice and prevents a build up of the solid materials carried by the gaseous medium around the opening in the orice 5 on the upstream side which ing therethrough. By employing any weiltotherwise would aiect the pressure differential between the taps 6 and 1.

'I'he modification shown in Figure 2 is identical with Figure 1 except for the construction of the elongated restriction and the orifice, which are produced by positioning a core, shown in general at I2, in a rigid position in the center of the pipe I by means of guide wires (not shown). Instead of forcing the gas through a narrowed constriction in the center of the pipe, as is done in Figure l'by-:the venturi 2, the forepart I4-nf the core I2 guides the gas toward the outside of the pipe and forms an annular restriction through which the solid-gas mixture is forced to pass.

Similarly the circular disc I positioned at the opposite end of the core I2 from the forepart 'I4 provides an annular orifice .Whioh'performs the same function as the orifice 5in Figure 1.

Although both Figures 1 and `2 show the oririce is positioned behind the nozzle, it is immaterial for purposes of this invention -whether the orifice is positioned on the upstream ,0r downstream side of the nozzle. It is also obviousthat any other suitable means of measuring the gas ilow may be adopted if so desired.

The weight of coal (Wc) vor.otherzpowdered ingredient passing through the pipe 2I .at anygiven instant may be determined in the following manner. In accordance Vwith well-'known principles, the weight of gas (We) flowing through the orice 5 at any given instant may be determined by multiplying the constant (Ko) vof the orifice by the square root of the pressure drop (No) indicated by the manometer 9. This is represented by the following equation:

The orice measurements only reiiect the-amount of gas flowing therethrough and are not affected by the presence of a solid mixed into the gas. As above noted, however, it has -been discovered that an elongated restriction, 'such as a venturi, may be employed to measure the total solid-gas mixture passing through it. Thus, the apparent weight rate of flow of solid-gas mixture (Wap) may be determined by the pressure drop (Nm) across the pressure ltaps -3 and 4 as indicated by the :nanometer 8:

Wap: Kmm

The apparent rate of solid-gas ow (Wap) derived from Equation 2 is greater than the rate of air flow (Wa) determined by Equation 1, because of the presence of the solid particles carried in suspension by the gas. It is believed that the presence of the solid particles increases the pressure drop across an elongated restriction due to the fact that energy which otherwise would create pressure against the walls of the vpipe I is translated into forward motion of the solid particles as they gain speed on the way through the elongated restriction or venturi 2. The apparent rate of iiow (Wap) of solid-gas mixture, as determined by Equation 2, does not accurately represent the weight rate of flow of solid-,gas mixture through the pipe .because Nm is recorded in feet of gas and not in feet of solidgas vmixture; therefore, it is necessary to multiply Nm by the ratio Wo-l- We Wa which ratio represents the relationship of the solid-gas density to the density of the gas alone. By so modifying Nm in Equation 2, .the apparent rate of flow (Wap) becomes the actual weight of solid (Wc) plus the weight of gas (Ws) flowing per unit of time through the pipe I:

Thu-sr Solving for the weight of coal (Wc) passing flowing through the pipe were exactly equal to the actual weight of coal fed into the pipe, that the Apoints placed thereon would form a straight line positioned at a 45 angle, as indicated by the line marked coal flow on the graph. The circular points plotted on the graph representing individual runs indicate how closely the cal culated lrate of flow approximates the actual rate of flow of coal through the pipe. This accuracy may be maintained within 5 to 10% and, upon perfection ofthe technique and calibration of .particular apparatus for a particular job, even this small percentage of error may be drastically reduced.

Meters formed according to the presen-t invention may :be adapted to varied uses. It is obvious Vthat by accurately determining the amount of coal'supplied per burner, or theamount of catalyst supplied to a reaction chamber, the process can be made much 'more economical. Furthermore, such meters can be made to operate automatic control devices, thus eliminating the necessity of skilled workmen and obviating variances that might otherwise be introduced by even the most vigilant operator. Heretofore, it has been impossible to determine the amount of powdered material passing through a supply line at any given moment by metering means. The present invention, thus, is advantageous in that it vprovides an additional tool for research in connection with solid-gas mixtures.

A number of variations and modifications oi the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, liquid or semi-liquids rather than solids may be suspended in gaseous medium and their amounts determined by the present invention. Furthermore, certain liquid-solid mixtures may lend themselves to measurement according to the method of the present invention.

'Ihe mechanical details disclosed in the accompanying drawings are, of course, purely schematic and may be widely varied.

What is claimed is:

1. A meter for measuring the weight rate of flow of solid in a solid-fluid mixture, comprising a conduit, an elongated restriction and an orifice plate arranged in said conduit in spaced relation and both so positioned in said conduit that the soliduid-mixture passes serially therethrough, and means for measuring the pressure drop across said restriction and said orifice, respectively.

2. A method for measuring the weight rate of 5 ow in a conduit of the solid in a. solid-fluid mixture, comprising the steps of measuring the pressure drop across an elongated restriction and across an orice plate which are positioned in the conduit, whereby the weight rate of flow' of solid may be computed according to the equation WJ W.,

wherein Wc equals the weight of solid in the solid-duid mixture, W is the apparent rate of gas ow determined at the restriction, and W. is the rate of gas fiow determined at the oriiice.

RICHARD B. ENGDAHL l 558,231

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,530,222 Weymouth et a1. Mar. 17, 1925 1,677,691 Smith July 17, 1928 1,963,011 Albersheim et ai. June 12, 1934 2,065,695 Haultain Dec. 29, 1936 2,311,848 Luhrs Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Germany Sept. 2. 1932 

